The invention relates to a cooling-air ducting system in the front-end space of a motor vehicle, which front-end space is delimited towards the front by a front-end wall having an air inlet opening for cooling air and in which front-end space is arranged at least one cooler through which cooling air flows, said front-end space having a cooling-air ducting space between the front-end wall and the cooler delimited by partition walls.
A cooling-air ducting system of this general kind is known from German Patent 3,338,466. In this known cooling-air ducting system, a plurality of coolers having different functions are arranged at various heights, at different depths and in different oblique positions in the front-end space of the motor vehicle. A separate air-ducting housing is provided for each cooler, conduction of the cooling air by a common fan not being possible.
An object on which the invention is based is to create a cooling-air ducting system in which, on the one hand, a sufficient cooler size can be achieved even in the case of very restricted space conditions in the front-end space and in which, on the other hand, the cooling air is conveyed in customary fashion by a cooling-air fan.
The object is achieved according to the invention in a cooling-air ducting system of the type mentioned above by providing a system wherein the cooler is divided into a plurality of individual cooler component parts which are arranged staggered relative to one another in such a way that they partially overlap with spacing relative to one another in the driving direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the space formed by the overlapped height and the spacing between the component parts serves for the removal of cooling air from the forward cooler component part and a separate feeding of cooling air to the rearward component part, a partition wall lying obliquely to the principal extension of each cooler component parts.
By virtue of the division of the cooler into a plurality of cooler component parts and their staggered arrangement, in the cooling-air ducting system designed according to the invention a cooler with a sufficient cross-sectional area can be accommodated even in a very shallow front-end space without these component parts screening each other off. In addition, a single cooling-air fan is sufficient for conducting cooling air through all the component parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,818,144 discloses the arrangement of a cooler in a space above the cab of a motor vehicle, said cooler comprising a plurality of mutually offset component parts. These overlap each other only with their housings. Partition walls serving to separate air feed and air removal extend perpendicular to the principal extension of the component parts with the result that no gain in cooling area is obtained by this arrangement.
In especially preferred embodiments, an arrangement is provided wherein an upper cooler component part is arranged above supporting structure of a bumper arranged in the front-end wall and is acted upon essentially by cooling air flowing in through the front-end wall above the bumper, and wherein a lower cooler component part is arranged behind the supporting structure and is acted upon essentially by cooling air flowing in through the front-end wall below the bumper. This design guarantees a good division between the different component parts of the cooler of the cooling air flowing in through the front-end wall.
Especially preferred embodiments include an arrangement wherein an upper cooler component part with its lower side lying in front of a lower cooler component part is inclined obliquely upwards and rearwards in such a way that it lies approximately parallel to that part of the front-end wall which lies at the same level. With such an arrangement, the space immediately behind the front-end wall is used in a particularly advantageous manner, it being possible to keep the spacing between the front-end wall and the upper component part of the cooler small over the entire cross-section of the latter. This spacing can be further reduced by providing an arrangement wherein the upper cooler component part is of curved design with essentially uniform spacing relative to the front-end wall as viewed in plan view. Thus, further free space can thereby be obtained downstream of this component part. Despite an oblique alignment of the component parts to the principal direction of flow of the cooling air, deflection of this cooling air caused thereby, and thus an increase in the flow resistance, are avoided in arrangements of the invention wherein coolant pipes and cooling fins of the cooler are aligned in the principal direction of flow of the cooling air irrespective of the alignment or curvature of its cooler component parts.
A favorable arrangement and position of the condensor for the air-conditioning system are provided according to an arrangement of preferred embodiments of the invention wherein an upstream part of a condenser of an air-conditioning system is arranged downstream of the upper cooler component part and a downstream part of the condenser is arranged in the cooling-air ducting space in front of the lower cooler component part. This arrangement ensures a sufficient supply of cooling air to this condenser without significantly impairing the cooling of the component parts of the cooler.
Preferred embodiments of this arrangement includes and arrangement wherein the cooler is designed as a radiator for an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle and wherein further coolers, such as oil or charge-air coolers are arranged in staggered fashion in the front-end space, having a common cooling-air ducting space with the cooler component cooler. This arrangement creates the possibility of accommodating further coolers in the front-end space with a low space requirement and without serious mutual impairment of the flow of cooling air.
Preferred embodiments also include an arrangement wherein an intake duct for combustion air of an internal combustion engine is passed through a partition wall connecting the lower side of the upper component part to the upper side of the lower component part. With this design, a form of combustion-air ducting has been found which avoids a reduction in the effective cross-section of the cooler, in particular in the width.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.